Our weekly rankings are in!
This was actually a pretty stable week for the ol’ top 20. Most of the teams that should have won did, and while Penn State saw its exit from the list, the number of teams knocking on the door seems to be shrinking. There were also several key teams that sat out this week for various reasons, and that also reduced the odds of an upset.
Public ballots and weekly rankings are nothing without praise and shame, so here is our scoreboard:
Ryan Conwell’s picks aligning with the national poll: 7
Nick Zoroya’s picks aligning with the national poll: 8
Everyone agreeing: 4
If you’d like to see our previous polls, you can find them here:
Week 0 | Week 1 | Week 2 | Week 3 | Week 4 | Week 5
Key
RC’s Ballot – NZ’s Ballot
National Poll
2021 NCAA DI Men’s Weekly Rankings – Week 6 Top 20
Note: The following are the official Inside Lacrosse Media Poll ballots are from Lacrosse All Stars’ Ryan Conwell and Nick Zoroya.
1 North Carolina (RC) – Duke (NZ)
National Poll: North Carolina (8-0)
RC: Another win, another week as my No. 1.
NZ: Idle
2 Duke (RC) – North Carolina (NZ)
National Poll: Duke (8-0)
RC: A rest week for the Blue Devils prior to their headline game on Thursday against Cuse. This will be their toughest game of the year to date, so we’ll see if those eight games were good preparation or not.
NZ: Beating Air Force like you should will keep you at No. 2.
3 Maryland (RC) – Maryland (NZ)
National Poll: Maryland (5-0)
RC: Doubling up Ohio State was yet another good game from the Terps. It’s going to be tough to see who in the B1G will give them a full four quarters.
NZ: Big Ten cannibalism is in full force. Beating OSU by eight is nice but could be better.
4 Rutgers (RC) – Syracuse (NZ)
National Poll: Syracuse (4-1)
RC: The win by Rutgers over Hop may be “expected,” but you have to remember how much the Jays have been improving. This win was key for Rutgers to maintain some order in the conference.
NZ: Cracked the top four of my weekly rankings with Georgetown losing and a win over Holy Cross.
5 Army (RC) – Rutgers (NZ)
National Poll: Rutgers (4-1)
RC: A week off for Army, and it still hovers for me.
NZ: Clearly the second-best Big Ten team at the moment after beating JHU in a battle.
6 Syracuse (RC) – Notre Dame (NZ)
National Poll: Notre Dame (4-0)
RC: Cuse took a quarter to get going, but once it figured out Holy Cross, it was game over. Now it’s ACC game number two with Duke.
NZ: Another good win for the Irish, and the Georgetown loss means they move up.
7 Denver (RC) – Denver (NZ)
National Poll: Denver (6-2)
RC: Denver moves up to Georgetown’s spot for me.
NZ: Huge win over Georgetown. It seems like Denver is piecing it all together when it counts.
8 Notre Dame (RC) – Georgetown (NZ)
National Poll: Army (3-1)
RC: After an expected win, I’m feeling more comfortable about the Irish and moved them ahead of UVA.
NZ: The loss to Denver slides the Hoyas to the spot behind the Pios in my weekly rankings.
9 Virginia (RC) – Virginia (NZ)
National Poll: Virginia (6-2)
RC: I moved UVA back a spot and put Notre Dame ahead to No. 8. The ‘Hoos are still a top-10 team, just seemingly behind the rest of the ACC right now.
NZ: Losing hope that the Cavs will dial it in. They struggled against Bobby Mo, but then again, who hasn’t.
10 Georgetown (RC) – Lehigh (NZ)
National Poll: Lehigh (3-0)
RC: I still feel like Georgetown is one of the best teams out there, but this Denver game definitely exposed it. The moral of the story? You have to be a really good team to beat the Hoyas.
NZ: Idle.
11 Lehigh (RC) – Loyola (NZ)
National Poll: Georgetown (5-1)
RC: Bye week for Lehigh means they hovered in my weekly rankings.
NZ: Beating a Bucknell team that you should beat keeps you at No. 11.
12 Loyola (RC) – Army (NZ)
National Poll: Loyola (4-2)
RC: Loyola had a great win over Bucknell but still stayed put behind Lehigh.
NZ: Idle.
13 UMass (RC) – UMass (NZ)
National Poll: UMass (2-0)
RC: Understandably, UMass has some rust, but just like last game, it shook it off pretty quickly en route to its win.
NZ: The Minutemen continue to find their footing with a nice victory over Drexel.
14 Johns Hopkins (RC) – Richmond (NZ)
National Poll: Delaware (6-1)
RC: Even with the loss, I still moved Hopkins up a spot ahead of Ohio State. The Jays still trending in the right direction, and I’m not feeling like their game against Ohio State would be even close to the same game at this point.
NZ: A win over Bellarmine and Ohio State’s loss bumps Richmond up to No. 14.
15 Ohio State (RC) – Hofstra (NZ)
National Poll: Vermont (3-2)
RC: Ohio State did lose to Maryland, who I have higher than Rutgers, and beat Hopkins, but I’m not feeling as high on the Buckeyes right now.
NZ: Idle. Move up because of losses in front of them.
16 Richmond (RC) – Ohio State (NZ)
National Poll: Navy (2-0)
RC: Richmond beat up on Bellarmine in a SoCon battle, but it has High Point next.
NZ: A loss is a loss, even to No. 3 Maryland. Ohio State is dropping three spots in my weekly rankings.
17 Hofstra (RC) – Albany (NZ)
National Poll: Ohio State (2-3)
RC: Hofstra didn’t play, so it stayed at No. 17 for me.
NZ: Beat Binghamton while Penn State and Hopkins lose. That means you move up three spots.
18 Vermont (RC) – Vermont (NZ)
National Poll: Johns Hopkins (2-3)
RC: Vermont had a huge expected win over NJIT in AE action.
NZ: The Catamounts continue to win the games that they should and are slowly climbing.
19 UMBC (RC) – Delaware (NZ)
National Poll: Hofstra (3-1)
RC: UMBC stayed undefeated for another week. It only has Binghamton between it and Vermont/Albany back-to-back to see if UMBC is for real or not.
NZ: Welcome to my weekly rankings! Busting through the bubble, I’m finally convinced Delaware is a top-20 team.
20 Delaware (RC) – Johns Hopkins (NZ)
National Poll: Richmond (3-3)
RC: I still don’t like the early loss to Mount St. Mary’s, but that was six wins ago. Delaware is looking like real CAA contenders behind UMass and Hofstra.
NZ: Perhaps the most frustrating team because of its talent but a ridiculous schedule. I’m still content ranking Hopkins at No. 20 for now.
RC’s Dropped Out:
Penn State (19)
NZ’s Dropped Out:
Penn State (16)
RC’s Next Teams In:
These are the ones with the best shot at making the top 20 in the coming weeks, not in order: Navy, Albany, High Point, LIU.
NZ’s Next Teams In:
Navy, High Point, LIU, RMU, Stony Brook.
RC’s Who Did I Leave Out?
Navy (16)
Navy is still idle. It’s tough to add the Midshipmen into my weekly rankings with just the two games played.
NZ’s Who Did I Leave Out?
Navy (16)
